Console To Front Bench Conversion

[Gideon Down]

What's required to put a front split bench seat into a 2012 Tahoe?

I had a shop do it for me, but the middle jjmp seat has zero leg room.

Trucks don't seem to have the radio stick out so far it seems... anything else they might have messed up?

 

[Ilikemtb999]

That’s how my 2010 is with the jump seat (though mine is a 15+), it has no leg room at all and would be completely useless for sitting in unless you straddled the hvac area.

 

[scuba]

What's required to put a front split bench seat into a 2012 Tahoe?

I had a shop do it for me, but the middle jjmp seat has zero leg room.

Trucks don't seem to have the radio stick out so far it seems... anything else they might have messed up?

I know this is an old thread, but I did this too (put a front bench jumpseat in my '13 LT). After a lot of research, I learned a '13 was the last year you could make this swap, because the in the next gen, the stock bucket driver's seat has an air bag in the right shoulder that would knock the middle passenger sideways or give him/her a head injury. Could not find someone to deactivate this airbag in the computer, and the computer barfs on swapping in an older driver seat without the airbag.

I bring all this up because I will be trying to order a '21 with a front row bench, but do it in a high trim: z71 , premier, high country. In case there is one other person who has figured out how high (in terms of trims) we can go and successfully get a front bench, please let me know.

 

[scuba]

I've had a couple of years now with my 2013 LT Tahoe that I converted to front bench. It's been nice to have the kids be able to sit next to me.

The legroom is tiny, which appears to continue to be the case in the new generation, to the extent I'm considering buying a truck (which appear to have more legroom for the jumpseat).

Let me know if anyone has figured out how to increase the legroom (modify the HVAC area of the center lower dash), OR, if anyone has experience on the newer generation with front bench.

Thx in advance

 

[Ilikemtb999]

Trucks have more leg room because the hvac and radio are higher up and don’t hang down. My old nnbs truck had an extra pocket in the console up front under the dash vs my Tahoe.

 

[scuba]

Hey gang, I'm thinking of selling my front-bench-seat LT trim Tahoe (2013). The vehicle is unfortunately very unique (as everyone has discovered, you can't get a front bench in a high trim), and I personally installed the front jump seat and had it upholstered in leather to match the rest of the leather interior.

The vehicle started as an Z71 LT with second row captain chairs, but I also swapped-in a bench into the second row, for a true 9-passenger Tahoe. The 2nd-row bench is also leather and was literally a brand new, zero-mile (2 yrs ago) take-out from a 2017, so it has the nicer cupholders in the fold-down arm rest. I kept & stored the captains, and they would come with the sale. I also saved the Bose subwoofer from the console delete, and it is functional-- I occasionally connect it, but haven't permanently mounted it anywhere.

I know it's a '13, but I'm going to miss the features of this thing, which you pretty much can't combine from stock, even if custom ordering (heated seats + 3-row leather with 9-seater / front bench). The vehicle also has the tow package and trailer brake controller, three TV's w/ HDMI & AV splitter & input, and some custom electronic work giving you several key-on-only power outlets, bluetooth, line-in under the jump-seat, and other goodies.

I haven't met the surprisingly high but understandable 100-post requirement for posting in the classifieds, so if you're interested PM me. I'm considering selling b/c I ordered a 6-seat F150, and should probably say goodbye to the Tahoe, despite the better turning radius, better garageability, more seats, etc. And mods: I apologize in advance and completely respect your time and effort and right to torpedo this post-- it's just a rare back corner of the internet where you can find people who appreciate front-bench Tahoes / Suburbans.

Located in Dallas, mileage is ~160k (I bought at 99k), dark blue Z71, would be asking in the ~$30k+/- range for the unique build.

As a final side-note, because of the airbags in the right shoulder of the driver's seat beginning in 2014, you can't add the jumpseat to a console vehicle that's 2014 or later, so that's why I sought- out a 2013. It's the newest Tahoe that you could own that's LT or higher converted to 9-seat.

 

[swathdiver]

@scuba

The pickups installed the buckets (cloth and leather) with the jump seat with both dash designs. Consider putting in an SLE/LS dash for more room.

 

[scuba]

Wow-- that's a big improvement on room. Is there any datapoint that makes you think the dash change-out is do-able?

My two datapoints are 1) the Chevy dealer wanted $2500-3000 just to replace the large dash trim piece (that gets cracked), and 2) I was looking for someone to pull a dash to clean behind it (skunky smell in otherwise pristine & functional Honda Pilot that had gotten flooded), and I discovered that in a city of 3mm+ people I couldn't find a single dealership, mechanic or shop willing to pull the dash, for any amount of money, literally, no amount, and this was pre-covid.

Let me know -- still a cool idea and pic.

 

[swathdiver]

Wow-- that's a big improvement on room. Is there any datapoint that makes you think the dash change-out is do-able?

My two datapoints are 1) the Chevy dealer wanted $2500-3000 just to replace the large dash trim piece (that gets cracked), and 2) I was looking for someone to pull a dash to clean behind it (skunky smell in otherwise pristine & functional Honda Pilot that had gotten flooded), and I discovered that in a city of 3mm+ people I couldn't find a single dealership, mechanic or shop willing to pull the dash, for any amount of money, literally, no amount, and this was pre-covid.

Let me know -- still a cool idea and pic.

Well, I have seen people replace this dash in a regular cab pickups with the high end dash that you have now. I would imagine that all of the components would carry over from dash to dash, even a navigation radio. You can double check this by purchasing a Mitchell Crash Estimating Guide which will list all the parts and part numbers.

There are guys on here who have taken out their dash to make repairs and there are several youtube videos showing how to pull the dash to repair cracks or what not. I never looked to see about swaps, wouldn't surprise me if there are.

You probably would want to get some parts from a salvage yard like the glove boxes and get the main dash new so it's not cracked.

 

[scuba]

Thanks-- that makes sense.